Kvasir Symbol Database

Rune Tree Symbol

Image I: The symbol as it appears on the C-bracteate IK-98 (see below) as illustrated by Jacqui Alberts Lund for Hyldyr, 2023

Entry by Joseph S. Hopkins for Mimisbrunnr.info, August 2025.

Several reviewers assisted with material for this entry. We thank them for their valuable feedback.

Quick attribution:

  • Hopkins, Joseph S. 2025. “Rune tree symbol”. Mimisbrunnr.info. URL: https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/rune-tree-symbol

Note that this entry contains illustrations by Jacqui Alberts Lund from the following publications:

It also forms the basis of an entry in the following upcoming publication:

  • Alberts Lund, Jacqui & Joseph S. Hopkins. 2025. A Book of Viking Age Symbols. Hyldyr. (Upcoming)

1. Description

The meaning, function, and name of this symbol are unknown today. However, because it resembles a simplistic illustration of a conifer tree, we refer to it in this entry as a “rune tree symbol”. The symbol is sometimes referred to as a stacked t-rune or similar and it appears on Elder Futhark runic inscriptions spread across modern Sweden, Denmark, Norway as well as on some Younger Futhark inscriptions from Denmark and the Isle of Man.

For the purpose of this entry, we divide the rune tree symbol into two categories: a.) Those that consist of six branches (and can readily be argued to in fact consist of three t-runes) and b.) forms that do not align with this type, typically consisting of multiple, apparently uneven branches on both sides.

2. Dating

Please note: The following inscriptions are known to contain this symbol but more may exist in the record. As we encounter more, we will add them here.

Elder Futhark inscriptions:

Younger Futhark inscriptions:

3. Forms

Instances of this symbol type can be divided into two categories:

a.) A six-branched “tree” featuring six even and downward “branches”, three on both sides of the symbol’s “trunk”

b.) Comparable symbols consisting of more than six branches, such as G 88, which appears to feature four “branches” on the left and five on the right.

Image: The Malt runestone (SJy 38) from Denmark illustrated by Jacqui Alberts Lund. For photographs, see the inscriptions at RuneS database here:

https://www.runesdb.de/find/1168

Note that this stone bears an entire Younger Futhark FUTHARK sequence and a dedicatory inscription. Appearing at the end of the second row from the bottom, the “rune tree” symbol occurs before a series of u-runes and t-runes that cannot be easily explained.

3.1. Category A

IK 98

Bracteates were items worn around the neck by pre-Christianized Germanic-speakers during the Migration Period and feature a variety of unique motifs. The inscription on this C-bracteate is especially notable (as noted runologist Tineke Looijenga says, “The whole legend is then: 'I am called Hariuha, I am travel-wise, I give luck or protection'. This can be considered clear evidence for the amulet function of bracteates”, Looijenga 2003: 213). The name Hariuha has often been interpreted as a reference to the Proto-Norse form of the god Odin and it is widely suspected that the C-bracteates especially depict the deity. On this C-bracteate, the rune tree symbol appears next to the ear of a man riding a horse. The motifs of the head and horses, often flanked by a bird, are typical of the C-bracteate type. The rune tree symbol placement can be interpreted as being aligned with the bracteate’s Elder Futhark inscription in a manner comparable to G 88.

N KJ29B

There exists no consensus on the meaning of this enigmatic Elder Futhark inscription. The symbol appears toward the center of one of the two sides of the inscription.

Sjy 38

This is a memorial stone that features a famous Younger Futhark FUTHARK sequence (compare this to G 88, which features a well-known Elder Futhark FUTHARK sequence). On RuneS, the rune tree symbol appears as row A VI, item 25 (scroll the row to the right), where it appears after the word huaR (Old Norse hverr ‘who’). It is then followed on a new row (by what appear to be) a non-lexical sequence of u-runes and t-runes (utu:tuuut). Rundata lists the meaning of the rune tree symbol as unknown.

Image: The Kylver runestone (G 88) is one of the most notable currently known early runestones. It features a FUTHARK sequence followed by a b-type “rune tree symbol”. Read more about this inscription and view photos of it at RuneS here:

https://www.runesdb.de/find/266

3.2. Category B

G 88

This instance occurs after the stone’s FUTHARK sequence, a listing of the entire Elder Futhark alphabet in its unique order and one of the earliest known. The inscription is not entirely visible, with some parts of the f-rune for example non-visible. Beyond the FUTHARK sequence, the inscription notably also includes the palindrome sueus to its upper right. No consensus exists on the meaning of seues among runologists.

IM MM111

To date there is no consensus on the decipherment of this inscription. Unlike the other inscriptions on this list, this “rune tree” aligns with the rest of the inscription, which consists entirely of similarly ornate representations of runes.

Images: Illustration by Jacqui Alberts Lund (top) of a C-bracteate (bottom) bearing what is interpreted as an ideographic t-rune. For more information on this find, which does not appear to have a RuneS entry or accompanying Siglum, see the following entry at the digital collections of the National Museum of Denmark: https://samlinger.natmus.dk/do/object/558178

4. Analysis

First, it is important to highlight that, while new runic inscriptions are found with regularity, it is highly likely that all runic inscriptions known to us, and all runic inscriptions that will be known to us, represent but a tiny fragment of the total runic inscriptions that have occurred over the many years in which the alphabets were in use. In turn, we should expect that, since there is a clear pattern with these symbols, that many other inscriptions featured the “rune tree symbol”.

In her study Viking-Age Runic Plates: Reading and Interpretations, runologist Sofia Pereswetoff-Morath discusses runes with what she identifies as “non-graphematic branches” (2019: 55-57), which include the symbol (or symbols) discussed here and runic finds like the ornate and mysterious Lund bone (SkL 77, RuneS entry: https://www.runesdb.de/find/7711).

Pereswetoff-Morath describes these as “runes equipped with extra lines devoid of linguistic meaning” and says that these may be any of the following:

  1. ) ‘Cryptic non-graphematic branches’, obscuring the inscription’s content

  2. ) ‘Enhancing non-graphematic branches’, endowing either the rune or the inscription with “additional magical power”

  3. ) ‘Decorative non-graphematic branches’, wherein these branches are decorative

Regarding these three potential explanations, she says that the first is “very difficult to prove” and that the second and third “are difficult to distinguish from one another”. Pereswetoff-Morath says that scholars find it difficult “to avoid confusing these runes with bind-runes”, but says that, in the case of the C-bracteate featuring the rune tree symbol, “there is hardly a better solution”.

Bind-runes are typically combined either to save space, like on many runestones, or to obscure reading, such as on runic plates (movable objects). The identification of these symbols as bind-runes of t-runes is common to find among runologists who comment on the symbols. In 2020, a C-bracteate was found in Denmark (https://samlinger.natmus.dk/do/object/558178 ) that was identified by runologist Elizabeth Ilmer at the National Museum of Denmark as featuring an isolated Elder Futhark t-rune at its top.

Each rune had a name that was phonetically and culturally meaningful. The name of the Elder Futhark t-rune is reconstructed in Proto-Germanic by historical linguists as *tīwaz. This word means either ‘a god’, a common noun, or it may be the name of a specific god. Here and there are clear instances of rune-users employing runes to represent their names in both epigraphic and manuscript runic writing. These are known as ideographic runes (Begriffsrunen). The “rune tree symbol” would therefore represent repeated invocations to the gods in general or the specific Proto-Germanic god Tīwaz.

This seems especially likely for the C-bracteate but is a reasonable explanation for all other instances mentioned here except the cross found on the Isle of Man. In that instance the symbol appears to result from an ornate, broader approach to the runes.

It is worth noting here that while trees were central to the religious practices of ancient Germanic-speakers before Christianization (see discussion in Kvasir Symbol Database’s entry “Sacred Tree & Holy Grove”), it is unclear if rune-users would have identified these symbols as resembling trees. That said, as indicated by popular uses of this symbol to represent trees (see for example the famous logo of US company Element Skateboards), the common recognition of this motif we see today may have also occurred among ancient rune-users.

This symbol appears at the end of every Hyldyr publication as a reference to the IK 98 C-bracteate.

5. See also

  • Sacred tree & holy grove, historical veneration of sacred trees and groves by ancient Germanic-speaking peoples

  • Web of wyrd, a modern symbol inspired by the historical runic alphabets

7. References